Heavenly King Aaron Kwok’s online concert earlier this month to cheer up Hong Kongers and raise funds for dancers and others in showbiz hit by the Covid-19 pandemic drew over 14 million views and raised 4 million yuan (S$800,000), according to malaymail.com on Monday (May 18).
According to Hong Kong’s Ming Pao daily, Facebook recorded 3 million viewers, while YouTube recorded 2.5 million viewers.
Kwok said that he was grateful to everybody who supported the fundraiser and hoped that donations keep coming until June 13.
Choreographer Sunny Wong shared that there were challenges before the performance because of the availability of dancers. Some had chosen other sources of income or were working part-time.
Kwok and a list of Hong Kong stars performed online at the hour-long concert at Harbour City mall in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Kwok, 54, started his showbiz career as a backup dancer before taking to singing and acting. Since his debut in the 1980s, he has been known as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong. The multi-talented artiste’s dancing was inspired by the American pop star Michael Jackson. His music genre is mostly dance-pop with a mix of rock and roll, ballad, rock, R&B, soul, electronica and traditional Chinese music.
He tied the knot with Chinese model Moka Fang and they have two children.
Kwok studied in St John’s Co-education College in Hong Kong. He worked as a junior staff in King Fook Gold & Jewellery Co Ltd upon finishing his studies. His father owned a small gold retail store and wanted him to gain experience in the industry with the hope that the family business can be handed over to him. However, Aaron’s brother took over the gold business and he went into showbiz. /TiSG